


Even Closer at Heart

by wouldratherbeaunicorn



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: F/M, it's just fluff that i procrastinated for an obscene amount of time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 18:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wouldratherbeaunicorn/pseuds/wouldratherbeaunicorn
Summary: Evan's gonna need some new shoes.(or: zoe's new puppy has a biting problem)





	Even Closer at Heart

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'west' by sleeping at last. based off a tumblr thread from @itstrulyastrangerthing , the creator of this lil universe... leave me prompts @the-second-to-last-jedi!!!
> 
> cute shit ahead.

Evan tugged his earbuds out of his backpack, plugging them into his phone as he walked to the benches sitting in the front of the school. There was someone else out there too, sitting cross-legged on the ground as a… puppy? Evan thought it was a puppy, licked her face. He watched the duo for a few seconds, his heart beating faster and faster as he realized who it was.

Zoe Murphy, and her new puppy. Chester? He thought it was Chester. A tiny corgi with blonde spots in his white fur, and ears that tended to flop over all the time, which Zoe had taken to cataloguing each occurence, posting it on her story so everyone could see. Was it Chester? It could’ve been Chipper.

Suddenly, she caught him staring, and nodded, the smile not dropping from her face as she turned to hide in the puppy’s fur. Evan tried to smile back, but he was pretty sure it just ended up looking like he was constipated.

His phone lit up with a text from his mom, and he frowned as he read it.

_**Momma: working late tonight. money on the counter** _

_**Me: I know, I stayed at school to work on something. Heading home now** _

He pocketed his phone, breathing in deeply as some Mumford and Sons song started. He knew she’d be working late. She was _always_ working late. And while Evan hated being at school, hating being… _invisible_ , it was even worse being forgotten. Left behind. He’d rather sit in the library and listen to the jazz band kids run amuck. Which meant taking the late bus. Which was supposed to pull out of the school parking lot at 4:45, but usually pulled in around five. Which meant that Evan had half an hour before it came. Half an hour of sitting on a bench and watching Zoe play-wrestle with her puppy. Or...acting normal.

Evan turned to stare at the street, and then the soccer field, watching the boys varsity team practice. Which was probably why his foot kicked out when he felt something pounce.

There the puppy was, pawing at Evan’s leg. His eyes widened as he watched the little thing start gnawing at his shoes. “What-“

“Chester! Get over here, now. Come on, leave him alone,” Zoe shouted, scrambling to get up and rescue Evan. Or Chester.

Evan’s chest heaved as the puppy but his shoelaces, pulling at them, but the triple knots didn’t budge. Chester tugged a bit more, before laying down and resting his head on the toe of Evan’s favorite grey New Balances, just in time for Zoe to arrive.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I don’t know why he’s acting… like this. Chip, no. Let go, please. God, I’m sorry.”

She tapped the puppy’s head, but he simply looked at her, and rolled over, taking Evan’s shoelace with him. Evan merely laughed, wiggling his foot a bit. Chester stayed attached.

“No, uh, I’m sorry. Now your, your dog is attached to my shoe.”

Zoe giggled a bit, and Evan laughed with her, shocked that he’d been able to make sense in her presence. She leaned down to pick up the puppy, but he batted her away, rolling back over and gnawing on Evan’s shoe again. “Hey, stop that,” said Zoe.

Chester didn’t listen, so Zoe made a fist and shook it in front of his face, voice getting pitchy as she spoke. “Chester, look! Treats! Let go of the shoe, and you get treats!”

Chester just stared at his person, tilting his head when she tried the tactic a second time. It was obvious that Zoe had no treats, but she continued for a minute, even trying to sound angry. But she ended up laughing, and broke down eventually, giving the puppy a belly rub and apologizing again. Evan bit his lip, trying to keep his ankle in a normal position without hurting the puppy. Eventually, he leaned down and untied his laces, slipping the shoe off. Chester gladly squirmed on his back a second time, shoelace still clenched in his mouth. The shoe, however, stayed in its upside down position, weighing too much to be pulled over by the tiny corgi.

Evan glanced over at Zoe, and did a double-take when he saw her crouched by the puppy, phone pulled out to take pictures.

“Okay, I’m really sorry, but he’s just adorable, and I need proof so I can shame him later,” she said, pocketing her phone and picking up both the puppy and the shoe.

It was an arduous game of tug of war, which Chester almost won, along with Zoe’s finger, but in the end, she released his shoe, a little worse for the wear, after physically prying the puppy’s mouth open and wrapping the lace in her hand.

He sat back down on the bench to pull his shoe on. “I’m, uh, I’m really sorry.”

Zoe made a face, and shrugged, rubbing her sore knuckles. “It was my dog that bit your shoe, you know. You have nothing to apologize for.”

She sat next to him as he tied his shoes, taking care to tuck in the laces. And just in time, as Chester hopped out of Zoe’s lap and tried to go exploring. Zoe tightened his leash, staring at Evan. “Do you have a ride?”

Evan looked around, quickly presumed that she was talking to him, and shook his head. “I was just gonna take the late bus.”

The girl frowned, and pointed to the parking lot. “Oh. I’ll just give you a ride, then. My car’s towards the back though, s-“

“You really don’t need to do that. I’m waiting for the late bus? I’ll be fine, it’s okay, you can go.”

Zoe smirked a bit. “Evan, my dog tried to eat your shoe. Honestly, it’s just a ride home. No big deal… Please? I want to.”

Evan watched her juggle her puppy and her backpack while trying to pick up her guitar, and couldn’t help but smile, taking her backpack from her. “Okay. Uh, okay, you can give me a ride. I’ll carry this.”

The car ride to his house was… a car ride. Zoe drove carefully, berating Chester a couple of times for trying to eat her seatbelt. Evan gave her instructions way before she needed them, but they still got there in the fifteen minutes it usually took him to get home. She didn’t unlock the doors right away, and Evan didn’t feel comfortable unlocking them himself, so he stupidly spoke instead.

“Thank you. Uh, thanks for giving me a ride. You didn’t have to do that. And I, I appreciate it. So thanks.”

She grinned, shrugging. “It’s not a problem, Evan. You’re cool. And I promise I’ll let you leave, but before you do…” Zoe held out her iPhone, before reaching back and grabbing Chester, blushing when she sat back down. Evan barely noticed.

“You want… my number?” he said tentatively. She nodded, and Evan plugged it in, before holding out his own phone. “Do you want to, uh, text me now? So I can save your number? Or- no, that’s weird, probably. Is that weird? I’ll go.”

Zoe smirked, and shook her head, typing out a quick “heyo” and watching as Evan’s phone lit up with the notification. She unlocked her car. “Thanks for subscribing to Chester Murphy daily updates. See you later, Evan Hansen.”

“Right. Uh, see you tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, then… Well, around. Later. Bye, Zoe. Thanks. Bye.”

She waited for him to get safely inside before pulling out of his driveway, waving Chester’s paw at him as she drove off. Evan grinned giddily, escaping to his room and barely answering his mother’s questions with full sentences. She said something about coming home just before him, and who was that girl? And why was he in her car? With no adults?

Evan luckily swerved past that dreaded conversation, and every attempt to bring it up again, just looking forward to the morning. When he’d hopefully see Zoe again. And with good reason, too.

_**Zoe: good morning! chester woke me up. By jumping on me and licking my face. It was 3 am.** _

_**Zoe: ok I rly don’t think you’re alone in this shoe thing. My left converse has a hole in it. Am i right to suspect my own child??? He’s got a thing for shoes rip us** _

Evan grinned despite himself.

**Author's Note:**

> we really do stan chester the corgi.
> 
> comment and leave kudos if you want!!! i have another prompt that i wanna finish before 2019. yeah, we'll see. i might turn this into a ~thing~ but i don't know yet. also? love is fucking weird. i'm quitting love is hard and weird.


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